Wednesday, December 28, 2011

My Little Pony: Styling is Magic

My Little Pony: Styling is Simple

I’ve been aching to style Rarity’s hair ever since I first bought her.  I looked up a few tutorials online, but they were all made for older generation ponies. I thought that maybe I’d make my own tutorial for the Friendship is Magic toys.

Rarity is our model, of course.

~You will need~
-Conditioner
-Your pony’s comb
-Curlers or pen caps
-Strips of paper towels
-Tiny baby hair-ties/rubber bands
-Maybe barrettes


I trimmed some of Rarity's hair to get a flatter edge like she has in the cartoon. Her ends were previously really uneven. You don't have to, but as someone who cuts their own hair, I was a bit picky about it. 




STEP I
Wash your pony’s hair with mild temperature water and a bit of conditioner. The conditioner will make your pony’s synthetic mane super soft and help to hold the style.
I use an all-natural conditioner for my own hair, and it worked splendidly for Rarity. Of course, synthetic hair is all the same, so it doesn’t really matter what kind of  conditioner you use.



STEP II
Towel-dry your pony’s mane and tail as much as you can, but make sure it’s still a little damp! The styling won’t hold if you dry your pony’s mane all the way.

STEP III
Brush out your pony’s hair. Part it as you see fit. I’m going for the same style Rarity wears in the cartoon, of course. However, it’s always easy to re-style your pony’s locks, so don’t be afraid to practice or have fun with it.


STEP IV
Here’s the tricky part. If you have some tiny curlers available (or you are styling a larger-sized pony), I highly recommend those instead. For this Rarity, I found that pen caps were closest to the correct size.

            Curly tail: Fairly simple. Wrap the tail around your pony’s back leg, starting on the outside. Cover it with a strip of paper towel and tie on a tiny rubber band.



            Mane: For Rarity I’ve got her bangs to one side and the rest of her mane to the other. This style would also work for Fluttershy. For Rainbow Dash or Twilight, You’ve got straighter styles that are a little harder to get right.
Roll her mane in the pen caps (so that they curl up and in, like in the cartoon!!), wrap with paper towel, and tie the rubber band on once again!




Let your pony sit this way overnight. The next day, carefully take everything off. In some cases your might want to brush her mane out a bit, but you might not! It’s a preference thing.


Let your pony sit this way overnight. The next day, carefully take everything off. In some cases your might want to brush her mane out a bit, but you might not! It’s a preference thing.




Here’s my very own Rarity! <3 I love her to bits. (Sorry about the picture quality…!) I got Fluttershy for my birthday, so I’ll post her once she’s done as well.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask! I’m always online. : )

xo

Monday, December 19, 2011

And then there were SIX

Three more QR codes, posted around school this time!!




Nothing special. :)

I've got a lovely little pony mane-styling tutorial coming up!! I'm going to write it while I'm on the plane today. I finally get to go back to Washington!! The excitement almost hurts.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Holiday Cheer

It snowed in Chicago! It kind of set up this awesome Christmas atmosphere. We were inspired to clean and get in the spirit of the holidays.


Frosting some sugar cookies after cleaning up the kitchen and living room....

I frosted a ton of cookies and they look smashing. :) At least I think so. What do you think?



I tried to incorporate as many Christmas icons as I could...
Let's see, there's trees, ribbons, wreaths, poinsettias, and holly... and a couple other random things. I think I like the wreaths the best.
To give sugar cookies with icing more of a flavour variety, I suggest crushing peppermint sticks and sprinkling it on the icing. Maybe you can tell that I did that on a few of them. They needed some flavourful fake snow!
(I just ate one, and they're crazy delicious.)



Here's our epic Holiday set up. Check out our futuristic mini-tree! We have a lot of cat ornaments, and one seal ornament to fit my tastes.
The presents wrapped in shiny red are from me to my roommates. ;)

I absolutely love the holidays! December is one of my favorite months. Maybe it's because it includes my birthday, Christmas, and winter break....
Speaking of which, I turned 19 on Tuesday!! Everyone was kind enough to take me out or give me goodies. I really don't like being the center of attention, but everyone is always so sweet. <3 Thanks for the well-wishes.
Now I'm looking forward to going home!! I leave Chicago this Monday afternoon! It will be an adventure....

What are you doing for the holidays??

Sunday, December 11, 2011

QR Coding

As both a personal and school project, I've printed some QR codes to post around town. They lead to my tumblr art blog. :)



I've only posted three around town so far, but I plan on posting some more when I'm more well equipped to be a ninja. Posting these QR codes was a bit challenging because I was running around donating and selling clothes so I could afford to buy Holiday presents for my friends and family! Therefore, my hands and arms were super full and... not ready to be stealthy and swift.

(clearly.)

QR 1

QR 2




QR 3



1 = Down on a blue line stop. Probably gone pretty quick.
2 = The back of a random blue line train seat! Good times.
3 = A resale fashion store off the Damen stop.

Next time, I'd like to post some around school and some art shops. Since the code links to an art blog. Over time, maybe I'll have up to ten (my current goal) around town. :>
Let's just hope they work and I gain some followers. haha~

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Esther's Holiday List

December also includes my birthday, so I figured I would get this list out there to share with anyone who might take it into account. A.k.a, I'm hoping that my family will somehow see this. :)

$115
I have wanted these since I saw Kurt wearing them on Glee... There is a Doc Martens store in Seattle. I am a size 7.5. I will take Originals or reinvented. I will also take red Doc Martens. 



Price Varies
I've been wanting these, but I haven't had the fund to buy them for myself yet. So, they are included here. 
I will also take skeleton tights or a ribcage jacket.



About $91.66. 
She’s on pre-order right now, so she wouldn’t arrive this month/you wouldn’t be charged until later… read up on it??
Ethnic figure! Cast-off! Meido!! AMAZING!! Want want want want want waaaant. But then again, I’d basically take any figure from my wishlist. haha 


$25-$30
I will also take the black or pink ones. (For some reason they are cheaper…) I absolutely love this etsy store.


$10
But I will really take any dress like this one. It is just particularly spot-on to what I've been wanting.



$17-$20
I will also take The Fame Monster because believe it or not, I don’t have that album, even though it’s my favorite… what. 


$35
Saw this at Sephora and I want it so. Not only does it work as a mask, but it also works as a mild wax!! Awesome. Of course, I can't afford it so... just counting on Christmas!!




I hope I didn't bore you to death with my musings!! :) What's on your Christmas/Birthday list? Do we have anything in common?


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Fading Out

I took Tom to the airport yesterday morning. It was a sad event, and I do wish that I had some pictures, but I had class right after the trip to Midway, so I planned against photography for that day. He made it home safe, so that's what matters.
I'll be home in three weeks!! I'm really looking forward to it. I miss Seattle and Tacoma and FedWay so badly.

However, I have lots of fun photos from our recent trip to the Museum of Science and Industry! Some of them are weirdly beautiful (and maybe kind of gross to some of you).



Luckily for me, they had a mini Seattle!! Tom was being nitpicky about the accuracy, but when you step back, the skyline looks pretty similar. 





These absolutely adorable baby chicks!! Obviously we watched some while they were hatching. Too cute!! It was fun to watch them find one another and be curious about the 'new world' they were encountering. ...And then the fluffy ones!! yeee~






The craziest exhibit was these amazing displays of the human body. All the displays were well-preserved real human specimens. All of the examples in these pictures are. So intense. This kind of thing is so oddly beautiful, I just love it. All these photos need some well-deserved editing, but I'll get there later.

Overall, such a fun trip. I haven't seen the whole place, so maybe I'll go back for photoshoots some day. :)

How was your Thanksgiving break??

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Black Fridays + New Addition

Did I dare to go black friday shopping? In downtown Chicago, of all places?
I did, and it wasn't so bad!!
Thanks to Tom, I got a pretty decent haul as well. :> I treated myself to a few things from Sephora, but Tom was kind enough to buy me Forever 21 clothes and even a new figure!!!




(I know my photography skills aren't up to par, but bear with me as I learn!! haha)

Jean Grey from X-Men! 
People say that they don't like her face, but I think it's just beautiful!! Kotobukiya's bishoujo line is really hit or miss; especially in the faces. I dragged Tom into buying for me... mainly on a whim as Kotobukiya is releasing Storm (and in the sketches she looks FABULOUS) in March and they will look amazing together. I'm a sucker for the white/silver hair and dark skin combo. Let's hope Storm's face is just as nice as Jean Grey's or Black Cat's. 

I haven't found any prominent mistakes on her yet. I guess the main negative was getting her out of that box!! It was almost stressful. She's completely bolted down everywhere, so it's just a solid statue, really. I was paranoid that I was about to break something while I was unwrapping her from the abundant plastic.
I seem to have really good luck when it comes to the quality of figures. Thank you, figure gods.  

Other Black Friday goodies~


A cute dress with scallop collar!! (The last size medium!) I wore it out today, and not only is it adorable... but also super comfy!! Just got to be careful when wearing it since it's cream-colored, and because I don't particularly trust the quality of Forever 21 clothes. (Pull tie not included!)


This one is hard to see, but it's a cute see-through cape with hearts. I've been looking for something like this, so I'm so glad they were still around when I went on Friday. Finally in my closet!! Rebuilding my style is getting easier as I'm figuring out what looks good on my body, but what also looks cute and caters to my personality and mental preferences.


Sephora goodies!! Tokidoki eyeshadow on sale, and it's amazing!! Darker, longer-lasting colors than what I normally use. Rebuilding your closet also means reworking some aspects of your make-up, I think.
Adorable pink-lemonade nail polish! It's so thin I need to apply 3 coats, but the color is just darling.
And clinique cover-up! It's my favorite brand of cover-up, but I haven't had it in a while! Getting back to using it as it works wonders on my skin as long as I take medication and wash my face every morning and night.


The dress in it's glory. (I'm also wearing the Sephora nail polish...) I'm sitting with Tom's cousin Valerie in this photo. We've been spending lots of time with his relatives lately as a lot of them live in/near Chicago. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry today, but that is just too much to talk about just yet. :) I've got another post on all that coming your way soon!!